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December 2024
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356 articles
- December 23
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- The official film of King Crimson's legendary 1982 Munich show is now free to watch online
- "Metal is more of a brotherhood than any kind of music." Slayer's Kerry King hails the inclusivity of heavy metal
- "The songs will live on with this band and with me under the name Kevin Cronin": REO Speedwagon have played their final ever show but the band formerly known as REO Speedwagon will continue
- December 22
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- Becoming Led Zeppelin movie finally gets a general release date
- “We wanted to look like something never before seen in heavy metal. What would be wilder than denim and leather? Animal fur!” How Manowar helped invent power metal with Hail To England
- “We were rebels: ‘Hate us, we don’t care.’ But the more critics hated us, the more kids started showing up at shows”: The tangled tale of X Japan, Japan’s biggest rock band
- “People have slammed Bohemian Rhapsody but who can you compare it to? Tell me one group that’s done an operatic single?”: The epic story of A Night At The Opera, the album that turned Queen into superstars
- “Crowds would get agitated as soon as they heard Slash’s intro riff”: Duff McKagan on the making of a Guns N’ Roses classic
- December 21
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- Early career advice given to Linkin Park included a choreographer suggesting they incorporate a "gimmick" in which they would kick off a shoe onstage. Yes, seriously.
- Amen frontman Casey Chaos has died
- “We drank a lot because of the blow and we got blown a lot because we drank a lot”: The wired story of Aerosmith’s drug-fuelled classic Rocks
- “I go to church every Sunday when I’m home. Especially now I’ve replaced the booze with glue”: From GN’R and Pantera to Ozzy Osbourne and God, Zakk Wylde is the most connected man in rock
- John Wesley guests on new anthemic O.R.k. single Mask Becomes The Face
- “Punk didn’t ride over the top of Quo, because we rock harder than any of ’em. This band seems invincible somehow”: The epic story of Status Quo, the greatest British boogie band never to break America
- “It wasn’t the notes he was playing, it was the wild abandon”: Jack White on the guitarist he learned the most from
- “I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times when we thought: ‘Let’s just abandon the concept, and write some good songs’”: How Queensryche made conspiracy theory-based masterpiece Operation: Mindcrime,
- “He said he reflected the craziness around him – he’d see other people go nuts and write about that”: Frank Zappa’s talent for using popular music to sell unpopular music, by people who helped him
- “I had just taken my first acid trip, and I had an African spear and a Chinese Warlord outfit”: Arthur Brown’s wild tales of Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, David Bowie and more
- “I’d say to him, ‘You say words that I would prefer you didn’t say. I think they’re unnecessary!’”: the modern pop superstar that Stevie Nicks thinks should tone down their swearing
- Watch Nightwish documentary on the making of latest album Yesterwynde
- Lars Ulrich embarrassed Biohazard's Billy Graziadei in front of his friends – but quickly made up for it in style
- December 20
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- The Clash and Prince to be honoured with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards
- "When my son became aware of this Swifty classic we listened to it even more than when it was initially released." Coheed and Cambria's Claudio Sanchez shares cover of Taylor Swift's Welcome To New York
- "Early on, there were a lot of people who judged us for our looks, how we wanted to dress." Kittie on their most underrated track - and why its message is still important twenty five years on
- “A mix of killer melodies, heartbreak and nihilism that’s as timeless as Nirvana”: This is the best punk-pop album you haven’t heard this year
- Big Star wrote it, Jamie T sampled it, and it was one of Jeff Buckley’s favourite songs. The story of the sleazy song that was reimagined to capture “the beauty of despair”
- "Our label said, ‘You guys will be the next Metallica’, and that bummed me out." Stoner rock legend Brant Bjork on why he didn't want Kyuss to be megastars
- “Lady In Red will have most of us reaching for the sick bucket. But if you dip into his back catalogue at any point from 1974 to 1984 you’ll find worthy listening”: Chris De Burgh… prog star?
- "Babymetal were written into the script as a placeholder. I didn’t think we’d actually get them!" Heavier Trip director Juuso Laatio on making 2024's most metal movie
- "I’ve gone back to a more progressive style." Steven Wilson will release new album The Overview in March
- "It's nonstop badassery." Slayer guitarist Kerry King picks his favourite Black Sabbath album
- "An example to all future box-set curators": Still Barking is 20 CDs of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band comedy genius, but it may baffle younger folk
- “A Rolls Royce appeared to pick me up for Top Of The Pops. I asked who booked it; the driver said, ‘Your manager.’ We sacked him and I took the bus”: The convoluted story of Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade Of Pale
- "I'm not Rory; I don't want to be a tribute act": Joe Bonamassa on paying homage to Rory Gallagher in Ireland
- Watch pro-shot footage of Metallica's full performance at 2024 Helping Hands concert in Los Angeles
- Shawn 'Clown' Crahan says he "could care less" about the bands Slipknot have influenced – as his focus is on where The Nine go next
- "I was lying in bed at about three in the morning when an axe smashed through my door": Deep Purple’s 25 maddest moments
- "Motörhead is not past tense. It's present tense": Phil Campbell pays tribute to Lemmy as ashes go on display at London adult entertainment club
- December 19
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- Alice Cooper and Rob Halford have joined forces on a wholesome Christmas song for children
- “She changed my life and my perspective.” Rising rap superstar Doechii hails Hayley Williams and Paramore for opening up a whole new world of music for her
- "If we win an Oscar, we’ll take it to Cash My Gold, melt it down and get some gold teeth made." It's been Kneecap's year, we just lived through it
- According to a new study, these are the 10 most popular rock band tattoos
- Quick! There's still time to grab a last-minute Christmas gift in Marshall's massive holiday sale: Save on top-rated speakers and headphones
- Nova Cascade bow out with fifth studio album Boxman
- "I’d love to do a crossover Sleep Token track." Bullet For My Valentine's Matt Tuck and Trivium's Matt Heafy field questions on Welsh cuisine, punching people in the face and having a willy for a nose
- "When Jimi Hendrix died, Shane spent the whole day with his face turned to the wall." How Jimi Hendrix became an unlikely influence upon Irish folk-punk legends The Pogues
- Renaissance bassist Jon Camp has died, aged 75
- “We’re maintaining en element of prog but hopefully still being accessible”: Giant Walker chase an audience who wouldn’t normally bother with their style of groovy riffs
- “I wish I could pretend to be Elton every day”: Cara Delevingne on stepping into Elton John’s shoes for a brand new video for his Christmas classic
- "Prepare for an unforgettable night of pure metal mayhem!" Arch Enemy announce North American tour
- "I hope your journeys will be safe." Black Sabbath legend Bill Ward shares message for Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain following tour retirement
- The Murder Capital release new track in support of Medical Aid For Palestinians
- “She’s a true torch singer. Her vocals are tremendous.” Dave Grohl's daughter Violet is working on her debut album
- Oasis announce 30th anniversary reissue of their standalone classic single Whatever
- “Steve Harris from Iron Maiden said, ‘If any band can carry our torch, it’s them.’ You think, ‘Wow – do we even want that?’” Nightwish’s constant reinvention could be a chain reaction that explodes out of control
- "Nigel has been running a cheese and guitar shop in Berwick-upon-Tweed": Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner reveals what the band have been up to since breaking up
- "I've walked past people with tattoos of mine on their arm without a flicker of recognition": How the Sisters Of Mercy's Andrew Eldritch avoids being stopped in public
- Former Replacements guitarist Bob "Slim" Dunlap dead at 73
- "It's finally hitting me that it's coming to an end." Sum 41's Deryck Whibley reflects as band bids farewell
- "I felt bad about that actually." The Cure's Robert Smith on hilarious viral interview clip from Rock Hall induction
- December 18
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- Susanna Hoffs and Elvis Costello celebrate Keith Richards' 81st birthday by dropping an unexpected Rolling Stones cover
- "I'd like to do it again!": David Gilmour suggests there's more to come in Christmas message to fans
- "I thought I understood how big this band was, but I didn’t." Spiritbox's Courtney LaPlante on the legacy of Linkin Park - and getting to play stadiums with them next year
- "The whole thing is still as sick as ever." Slipknot put on 2024's biggest heavy metal nostalgia party in Manchester
- Celtic harpist Joy Shannon shares video for Corr Bán (Tar Árais Dom) featuring Heilung's Karl Uwe Faust
- "Slash comes up to me and gives me a hug, and that was a moment that I will take to my grave." We asked Myles Kennedy to make us a playlist, and what he gave us is pure gold
- “I realised this music is what influenced the stuff I’d been listening to – Pink Floyd, Genesis and so on”: Ben Short saved a Stravinsky album from a skip, and A Formal Horse was the result
- "I had one mate who was massively into Deep Purple but they were a bit too proggy for me." How Frank Skinner became a born-again metalhead
- "Why limit yourself to retreading what's already been done?" New Age philosophy, conspiracy theories and the cosmos: how Blood Incantation made death metal nerdier and cooler than ever
- “The Doctor Who theme was just a fraction of what she could do… She felt sound very deeply – things that haunted her came out”: Actress Caroline Catz on hearing Delia Derbyshire’s unreleased archive
- King Diamond's first new song in five years has a video shot at a haunted asylum that inspired Stranger Things
- "If you ever forget what 1984 sounded like, well, it sounded like Frank Stallone. And it still does": That time Sylvester Stallone's brother almost became a rock star
- “There’s always a lingering chance that we’re going to get back together," says Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty
- Genius or an overrated relic? The Eric Clapton albums you should definitely listen to
- Do gig goers need a hero to put an end to ticketing fiascos and price gouging? And is that hero...sigh...Kid Rock?
- December 17
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- "I listened to classical music right up until I saw Black Sabbath on TV when I was eight": Michael Monroe picks the records, artists and gigs that mean the most
- Aphex Twin just surprise-dropped a thirty-eight track, two-and-a-half hour compilation album
- "He showed me chords, pinch harmonics, drove us to see Judas Priest." Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello celebrates the fellow iconic metal guitarist he was in a high school band with
- Vote in the 2024 Prog Magazine Readers' Poll
- “We should have toured Europe and taken advantage of the impact our single had. We were lazy and stuck to playing in Britain. It was a huge mistake”: The all-too-short story of promising early proggers Rare Bird
- "They push the genre forward." Yungblud reveals who he believes are the "best metal band under 40 years old", explains how David Bowie inspired him
- "I’ve said no to tours and let some opportunities go by because they’re not what I’m really interested in doing." Serj Tankian on System Of A Down, heritage and the importance of staying active
- Circu5 announce new album with video for Skin Machine
- “Nothing is finished yet, but it will come”: Floor Jansen will use Nightwish’s touring hiatus to make her next solo album
- "Lady Gaga was swinging about on a JCB; it was a bit of a circus": Jeff Beck on awards shows, the end of Ziggy Stardust, and refusing to audition for the Rolling Stones
- “I’m probably the one who’s most aware of everything we’ve done. I probably like our music the most”: Genesis’ Tony Banks wonders if the world needs any more of his music
- The history of heavy metal to be explored in new documentary series 'Into the Void'
- Slipknot's Clown: "We probably have several albums in us right now. It’s looking great."
- "I see reviews saying: 'The band were great.' Yeah, the 'band' is me": Joan Armatrading on her new music, riding an elevator with Leslie West and walking with Nelson Mandela
- Gary Marx co-founded the Sister Of Mercy: Now he's released a Slade-worshipping, Bowie-loving glam rock album - and he wears a papier-mâché elephant head
- December 16
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- "A dream turned reality": Those Damn Crows confirmed for headline slot at Steelhouse Festival
- "This is the moment!" Watch Brian Johnson and Lady Gaga smash their duet of AC/DC classic Highway To Hell during Apple TV's A Carpool Karaoke Christmas
- System Of A Down announce first full tour since 2018
- Slowthai found not guilty of raping two women at 2021 house party
- Vote for the best metal album of 2024
- Big Big Train release new Winter version of Brew & Burgh
- “In our heavy metal world, he’s almost as important as Elvis Presley”: Blaze Bayley remembers fellow Iron Maiden alumnus Paul Di’Anno
- "The most successful symphonic metal band in the world." Every Nightwish album ranked from worst to best
- Pallas announce one more album (at least) but it's the end of the road as far as gigs go
- “We did it!” Anti-Britpop icons Pulp sign first record deal in 20 years
- "Four words describe this album best - Adrian Smith's Finest Hour": Iron Maiden successfully embrace guitar synthesisers on Somewhere In Time
- More than 30 minutes of live Black Sabbath footage from 1976 has appeared online
- “It was a clever tactical manoeuvre, selling an album at the price of a single. Many people bought it to play frisbee with! But it worked”: For Faust, music has always been just a part of the art
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- "Check this out! Amazing!" Gene Simmons would like you to watch this video immediately
- December 15
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- The numbers are in on the biggest grossing tours of 2024
- Watch surviving members of Soundgarden reunite onstage in Seattle
- Watch Sid WIlson and Kelly Osbourne's son Sidney in adorable backstage moment with masked-up Slipknot
- “Roger asked, ‘Who’s singing it?’ ‘Ice-T.’ ‘Approved!’” How Ice-T got Roger Waters and David Gilmour to stop bickering with a cover of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb
- “A good heavy metal song is like a good horror movie, and vice versa. Heavy metal sounds evil and horror movies are evil!“: Inside Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett’s lifelong love of horror
- “There’s nothing that annoys me more than when people don’t think their emojis through”: Charli XCX on upping your WhatsApp game, why dancing at parties is compulsory, her teenage diary and more
- “My father wrote the parallel universe theory”: the Ant-Man-starring rocker whose dad invented the idea of the multiverse
- “It always pulls something out of you. Even if the winds are blowing in the wrong direction, it still sounds good”: The Freddie Mercury song that Queen’s Brian May never gets tired of playing
- “It could have gone either way… I figured that if this was going to be my last hurrah, we should really go for it and make something that would be astonishing to listen to”: How Big Big Train broke through with The Underfall Yard
- December 14
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- “I could spend hours going through the mistakes we made and were made on our behalf. We all truly felt we could be big”: The tumultuous history of Testament, thrash metal’s greatest nearly-men
- Watch Metallica perform rarities at 2024 Helping Hands event in Los Angeles
- “Sometimes the ‘you’ in my songs is me talking to me. Other times I can be talking to somebody else. It’s up to you to figure out who’s who”: The epic story of Bob Dylan’s holy trinity of mystical, magical mid-60s albums
- “People have tried to copy it and rip it off, but no one has come close. No one will ever beat it”: The cult metal album Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison said was as good as Reign In Blood
- "A rousing counter-narrative to the usual depictions of Krautrock." New book shines different light on the kosmiche genre
- David Gilmour shares new live video for The Piper's Call
- “We had a plan. Jesus Christ, are you kidding? My whole plan was to make an album that sells more than the last one”: How Whitesnake shed their skin and made a solid gold hard rock classic with the 1987 album
- “Keith Moon was schizophrenic. I saw many sides of him in half an hour. If that‘s not a split personality, I don’t know what is”: Late keyboard legend Ian McLagan’s wild tales of the Stones, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan and more
- “There’s all these secret passages where staff seem to just appear and disappear again”: what it’s like to stay at Elton John’s house
- “Nick Cave has this spiritual fervour with the audience”: Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood on becoming a Bad Seed
- “Unfriendly immigration officers read ‘musician’ and ask, ‘Anything I should know?’ I say, ‘Oh yeah!’ They remember Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and it’s OK”: Yello’s offbeat synth prog ethic gets Dieter Meier round the world
- December 13
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- Gleb Kolyadin shares handcrafted, animated video for uplifting new single Glimmer
- Everon release video for No Embrace, their first new music for sixteen years
- “I was stunned and angry and told them I couldn’t even consider it”: Why Marty Friedman turned down potential Megadeth reunion in 2015
- “I think I just need to stick some Christmas words on it and get it out there!” Have The Cure written the feel-bad holiday hit of the year?
- Exploring Birdsong share video for plaintive piano-led ballad All I Lack
- “I keep telling Clown that I’m just gonna throw it up on Youtube”: Slipknot guitarist Jim Root often threatens to leak long-delayed album Look Outside Your Window
- “Far ahead of the 80s art-rock curve… forward-looking, new wave electronic music with trace elements of prog and glam”: Bill Nelson’s Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam Deluxe Box Set
- The 50 Best Rock Albums of 2024
- “All over the shop… The template for The Rutles is clearly there, and there’s a bridge between The Goons and Monty Python”: The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s Still Barking
- Neil Young launches 107-minute Xmas playlist with accompanying cosy fireplace video
- "I don't know how much time I have left": Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late finds Reg in reflective rather than acerbic form
- December 12
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- "An apocalyptic masterpiece": Neil Young's haunting On the Beach is bleak, stoned and bleary
- Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks announce live album of classic-era Yes songs
- "What technology has done to disrupt the music business in terms of not only how people listen to music but the value they place on it is defeating." Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor offers damning critique of the state of music in 2024
- The 10 best hip-hop albums of 2024
- Marshall Monitor III A.N.C. Bluetooth wireless headphones
- “I can’t marry you, but we can totally have an affair sometime”: Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale is open to singing with Skid Row again
- Dani Filth’s mum wants Cradle Of Filth’s Nymphetamine played at her funeral
- Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have formed a band together and you'll never guess what it's called
- “I remember trying to work out what extra notes he’d put in. I was so infatuated…” Gun guitarist Jools Gizzi on his prog hero Alex Lifeson
- Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman will celebrate his 65th birthday by presenting a version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon with one of Switzerland's leading orchestras
- 10 brilliant rock albums that last less than 30 minutes
- "Our first show we made two songs last for fifty minutes": Meet Sacri Monti, the psychedelic rockers who don't know where they're going but dig the journey
- Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Shinedown, Nickelback and more confirmed for inaugural Boardwalk Rock festival
- December 11
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- Iron Maiden unleash recap video to thanks fans for success of The Future Past Tour
- Envy Of None share video for new single Under The Stars featuring "an unmistakable 'Alex' guitar solo!"
- "I've always existed between two cultures." Meet Lowen, 2024's breakout prog metal sensation inspired by System Of A Down and Akercocke
- Alex Henry Foster shares new live video for the epic Shadows Of Our Evening Tides
- King Diamond is bringing his Myrkur-assisted live show to Europe and the UK next summer with a stellar backing lineup
- Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate announce new studio album The Uncertainty Principle
- Oli Sykes says Bring Me The Horizon are considering going on hiatus: "We need time to recharge our batteries and have that time away"
- Gojira share official music video for Grammy-nominated Olympic single Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)
- Kerry King rules out future Slayer activity and names the much-missed metal icons he wishes he'd collaborated with. "We're never gonna make a record again, we're never gonna tour again."
- “It won’t win over the doubters, but it’s neither as lightweight nor cheesy as some would have it”: The Jethro Tull Christmas Album – Fresh Snow At Christmas
- Genesis Phil Collins-years book gets an update
- “I lie to them and change the goalposts… you build up techniques of throwing the curveball of discomfort. If it gets comfortable I change it”: David Thomas calls Pere Ubu “avant-garage” – but how prog are they?
- "His mouth moved, but I'd have to say he gave me only 30 percent": The night Bob Dylan trolled David Letterman and a TV audience of millions
- The 10 best King Crimson songs, by Jakko Jakszyk
- For years Tommy Henriksen has played guitar for others: Now's he's spreading the gospel of Crossbone Skully, avenging superhero from outer space
- "I told Thunder that if they wanted to replace me, I was fine with that": Danny Bowes on the long road to recovery and his return to the stage
- "We can choose to make the world a better place while we’re here": Those Damn Crows launch powerful new single Still ahead of huge headline show
- December 10
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- The Darkness launch self-loathing new single I Hate Myself
- TesseracT share new live video for War Of Being
- “I got so tired of all these different hybrid categories, I created my own”: Ice-T names the one thing he’d change about heavy metal if he could
- “Defiantly lo-fi, reassuring us that wrongness can feel so right sometimes”: The Flaming Lips’ Blu-ray edition of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
- “I’m sure you all appreciate that I hate you all!” Iron Maiden share heartfelt backstage video of Nicko McBrain’s final concert
- The next Korn album will take some time: “Maybe next summer, maybe next year, the next winter – I don’t know!”
- "Anyone who loves epic, powerful and ingenious metal needs this in their ears immediately." Hold those end of year lists: Múr just put out one of the best metal debut albums of 2024
- New Rush book charts a very personal fan journey
- Deftones announce two more UK headline shows for summer 2025
- "I was twelve, on the bus, and someone said it was angel dust, and I thought 'That sounds great'": Fantastic Negrito has poured his upbringing into his extraordinary and beautiful latest album
- “I don’t have many rock’n’roll stories for you – that was always someone else’s job”: Phil Collins was pranked by George Harrison, outdrunk by John Martyn, blown away by Robert Fripp and well-behaved with Eric Clapton
- "I had never heard of Cats In Space because I no longer listen to music": Cats In Space and Willie Dowling are on tour and cannot get enough of each other
- "We played to more than 350,000 fans in stadiums": Those Damn Crows are used to big crowds, but their next show is another step up
- "If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks then I will have a crack at it": Watch the trailer for the new documentary about the drumming life of Phil Collins
- December 9
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- Kerry King adds summer 2025 headline shows in the UK and Europe, plus Gojira support slot, to his solo band tour schedule
- "Attention UK & Europe!" Jack White reveals where and when he'll be playing in the UK and Europe in 2025
- “There is an irony in the best British film being Irish.” Kneecap triumph in seven categories at the British Independent Film Awards, with their self-titled biopic winning the top prize, Best British Independent Film
- Big Big Train announce US tour dates for April 2025
- Korn, Muse, Scorpions, Linkin Park, Judas Priest and more for Hellfest Open Air 2025
- System Of A Down announce three co-headline stadium shows with Korn, Avenged Sevenfold and Deftones
- Geezer Butler names one “cringy” Black Sabbath song: “Maybe because I wrote it, and I hate listening to stuff that I’ve written”
- Unitopia announce new live release Alive And Kicking to be released in March
- Whores announce UK and European dates as part of their World War Tour
- The 10 best metalcore albums of 2024
- “You better believe Snoop could be the new MasterChef judge.” Snoop Dogg wants to replace Gregg Wallace on MasterChef, saying that this could be “the perfect opportunity" for him to host the popular British TV show
- Judas Priest add UK dates to 2025 Shield Of Pain European tour, including biggest-ever London show with Alice Cooper
- “He kept sneaking into our studio and hanging out with us. And then, the minder would come in like, ‘Have you seen Ozzy?’” Metallica’s Robert Trujillo explains how he met Ozzy Osbourne
- The 10 best black metal albums of 2024
- Guns N' Roses announce 2025 tour dates including first-ever show in Saudi Arabia
- Kate Bush's only live performance on US TV didn't transform her fortunes, but she did inspire a Hollywood actor's recipe for braised spare ribs
- “The NME said, ‘There’s one of your Rutles songs on this Beatles bootleg album.’ I got them to play it to me over the phone. I said, ‘That’s me on Saturday Night Live!’” How prog were Neil Innes and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band?
- "The sound of a band that knew its influences and leaned into them unapologetically": Detective's debut album paints them as the original Greta Van Fleet
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- Rush's Alex Lifeson has returned to the stage to play a Christmas-themed Black Sabbath cover with Barenaked Ladies
- December 8
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- "He was a drummer before I was a singer, a pilot before I was a pilot": Watch Bruce Dickinson pay tribute to Nicko McBrain during his final Iron Maiden show
- “Nothing ever came of this because McCartney couldn’t recognise good stuff.” Why Paul McCartney's dream of making a sci-fi musical film about earth-invading aliens with legendary author Isaac Asimov never got off the launch-pad
- “Jimmy Page allowed Eric to unleash the power he had”: How Eric Clapton helped reinvent the blues with The Bluesbreakers’ landmark Beano album
- Les Penning and Robert Reed share video for new single, their cover of Xmas fave Fairytale Of New York
- "A name familiar to many of our fans." Iron Maiden announce new touring drummer following departure of Nicko McBrain
- “He had a level of charisma beyond what you normally experience”: Christopher Nolan on working with David Bowie
- “He’s one of the most gifted songwriters that ever lived. What can I say? I’m not worthy!”: The eccentric prog icon who blew Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris’s mind
- “He wasn’t a phoney. He didn’t have to be somebody else – he felt comfortable being himself“: We lost Dimebag Darrell 20 years ago today. His brother Vinnie Paul never let his memory die
- “I said, ‘No way, I’m not having a song on some show we’ve never heard of’ and my publisher pretended that conversation never took place”: how Stephen Fretwell came to have one of his songs as the Gavin & Stacey theme tune
- “They didn’t do the posing rock thing – that attitude has stuck with me ever since”: Ruts DC drummer David Ruffy explains why Edgar Broughton Band are his prog heroes
- "It's a beautiful song with a bit of a dark edge." Comic Chris McCausland on why he chose Metallica's Nothing Else Matters for his latest performance on Strictly Come Dancing
- "His ear was very crusty." Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne on meeting Paul McCartney for the first time
- December 7
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- “If we weren’t tied to the whims of another band, things would be different. There’s been a lot of bumps in the road”: The story of Brad, the greatest Seattle band no one ever talks about
- “There were fire, floods and riots. We saw LA being destroyed. We channelled that into the record”: How Fear Factory predicted the apocalypse with industrial-metal masterpiece Demanufacture
- “At any venue, every time, this band play like their lives depend on it”: While She Sleeps reiterate their place among the metalcore elite with exhilarating London show
- “It was a reaction to a life of being bullied and also a celebration of fun. A lot of the metal world didn’t understand that”: How Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst became nu metal’s biggest star – and lived to tell the tale
- "Today will be my final gig with Iron Maiden." Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain retires from band after 42 years
- “I’m told that I introduced Ozzy to cocaine when Black Sabbath opened for Mountain on their first American tour”: Leslie West’s wild tales of Ozzy Osbourne, Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Hanks
- “Whether as a solo performer or part of a band, his remarkable playing and strident yet emotive voice remains a remarkable legacy”: John Wetton’s Concentus live box set, volume one
- "Confidence Man are ridiculous. They're also one of the best live acts on Planet Earth right now." Melbourne's EDM party starters turn Brixton Academy into a delirious rave with one of the gigs of the year
- Savatage announce London Shepherd's Bush Empire show for June
- “Given the state he was in I would have given him two years, tops. But Sharon literally rescued him”: Inside the booze-soaked 35-year friendship between Lemmy and Ozzy Osbourne
- “I grew up around rock stars. My dad’s mates were Mark Knopfler and Thin Lizzy… and Christopher Biggins was a mainstay in our house!”: the indie-pop superstar who had a slightly different upbringing than your average frontman
- “Don’t blame me for glam metal. Most of those bands played their hairspray cans better than their instruments”: The wild story of Hanoi Rocks’ Back To Mystery City, the glam-punk classic that helped invent Guns N’ Roses
- “I just see a pie hit me in the grill”: Metallica’s Robert Trujillo on the rock legend who caked him in the face onstage
- “The sort of thing which got prog a bad name, but which now seems increasingly bold and ambitious”: 10 essential Greg Lake songs
- December 6
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- “Just got a hernia singing with a metal band in Austria”: Talk show host extraordinaire Conan O’Brien fronted an extreme metal band last night
- Ghost Of The Machine's second album will "scratch that prog itch" promises singer Charlie Bramald
- The 10 best prog metal albums of 2024
- “This is a piece of Asian metal history and we’re proud to share it with the world!” Hear New Delhi metal sensations Bloodywood team with Babymetal on new single Bekhauf
- Surviving Bonzos feature in hilarious new Still Barking unboxing video
- Electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk recruit skate legend Tony Hawk to announce North American tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of their game-changing Autobahn album
- The 20 Best Songs by The Sisters of Mercy – as chosen by former members, collaborators & more
- "Sometimes a gig is more than just a gig." Friends of the late, great Mark Lanegan - including Josh Homme, Dave Gahan, Chrissie Hynde and Bobby Gillespie - assemble in London for an emotional, once-in-a-lifetime celebration of a truly singular talent
- Wardruna explore the relationship between man and bear in typically striking video for new single Birna
- Doom veterans My Dying Bride end hiatus, announce first show of 2025 – with a different singer
- Machine Head’s next album seems to be right around the corner…
- Metalcore champions Shadows Fall return with first new song in 12 years, In The Grey
- “Eccentric characters at the centre of songs was all the rage… maybe it was all the acid!” Steve Howe’s bandmate, a tragic grocer and an unfinished concept album – was Excerpt From A Teenage Opera the strangest prog hit single ever?
- Classic Rock magazine's best rock albums of 2024
- The best albums, the biggest shows, and the megastars who rocked our world - only in Classic Rock's Best Of 2024 special edition
- From before he used the Elephant Man's spine for a marimba: Tom Waits' The Heart Of A Saturday Night still sounds smoky on anniversary coloured vinyl
- December 5
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- "I know it will be inspirational to young people and legacy-defining for generations to come": Watch the trailer for the long-awaited movie Becoming Led Zeppelin
- "Filled with ghosts from rock'n'soul’s illustrious past": True believers DeWolff express their love of music on Muscle Shoals
- Pearl Jam announce ten-date, five-city North American tour
- "We are going to bring hands down the greatest show of our careers." Bring Me The Horizon will be headlining Reading and Leeds as their only UK shows in 2025
- “The lyrics come from articles about near-death experiences. They all follow a similar thread… they read like a metaphor for discovering true meaning and purpose”: Stuckfish’s fourth album contains a collection of firsts
- "They’re very special to me, probably my favourite band in the world." Oscar-winning Irish actor Cillian Murphy on the band he adores, and the "remarkable" song that he listened to "five times in a row" when it was released
- New Killswitch Engage album is “angry, dark and aggressive” because that’s “what the world needs right now”, says Jesse Leach
- “There’s few institutions in this world who stand strong and unyielding against oppression. Bohemian F.C. is one of them." Fontaines D.C. and Bohemian Football Club collaborate on new shirt to raise money for humanitarian aid for Palestine
- Hear folk metal heroes Eluveitie’s first new single in two years, Premonition
- Metal Hammer name Blood Incantation’s Absolute Elsewhere the best metal album of 2024, top 50 revealed
- "Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me." The love-in between Bob Dylan and Hollywood star Timothée Chalamet, who's playing Dylan in the forthcoming biopic A Complete Unknown, is a pure and precious thing
- “It's about finding inner strength to fight in immensely hard times. To call on our ancestors when going up against the impossible.” On the evidence of new single Platinum, Penelope Trappes' forthcoming record A Requiem could be one of the albums of 2025
- Slipknot, Ghost, Nightwish, Gojira and more star in Metal Hammer's blockbuster end of year issue, which comes with an Iron Maiden Powerslave patch, a Nightwish notebook and a 2025 heavy metal calendar
- “Pure alchemy – and rendered in Vangelis’ Atmos mix, it makes Armageddon sound surprisingly inviting”: Aphrodite’s Child witness the end of the world again with a repackaged 666
- "Phil wouldn't be afraid to throw a punch, but it was Eddie who gave people a battering": How Motörhead made their game-changing Overkill album and the anarchic tour that followed
- Former Rainbow singer Graham Bonnet has just told the most disappointing Ozzy Osbourne story ever
- December 4
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- Soundgarden's surviving members are reuniting for a show in Seattle
- Live Is But A Dream…: Avenged Sevenfold announce European summer tour for 2025
- Dead & Company announce 10th anniversary shows at Sphere in Las Vegas
- “A compelling journey… expansive use of ambience, drones and sequenced electronic rhythms”: Klaus Shulze’s 101 Milky Way
- “Over the last 10 years, I’ve been a bit disillusioned by popular music. The business sucks.” A revitalised Trent Reznor is ready to to be “back in the driver’s seat” again with a new Nine Inch Nails project
- “This one shifts gears from the fast and furious energy of our two recent singles”: Hear Arch Enemy put the “melodic” into “melodic death metal” on new single Blood Dynasty
- “I’m now feeling fine and dandy and very much looking forward to these new shows.” Adam Ant reveals Antmusic UK tour plans
- “Dismissed by some as too lightweight, time has reframed it as a pivotal album musically and historically”: Marillion’s This Strange Engine Deluxe Edition
- "It's the perfect driving song, an essential on any road trip." Stuckfish share new video for the rocking Just For Kicks
- Vote for the best metal song of 2024
- “At almost eight minutes long, it's pretty brave for the record company to pick it as a single!” The Wildhearts return with epic new single Failure Is The Mother Of Success, about “getting back on your feet after things have gone wrong”
- “This is definitely terrible!” Watch Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst drink hot dog-flavoured water
- Bob Vylan. Alt Blk Era, Kid Bookie, Spider among nominees for Best Alternative Music Act at MOBO Awards 2025
- “Our schedules have caused this to take longer than expected, thanks for bearing with us”: Former Killswitch Engage bandmates Howard Jones and Adam D’s new project has a name, album almost finished
- "Often mesmerising, sometimes strange but never less than compelling." Sleep Token show London why they've become metal's biggest success story in over two decades
- The busiest band in metal? One day before Slipknot support tour, Bleed From Within announce next album Zenith, release single In Place Of Your Halo
- Start your neck warmups now: UK metalcore hellraisers Heriot announce biggest-ever headline tour
- “We were limited by venues, by the number of people in the band. We wanted to play louder. Everyone had been talking about going electric as Dylan had. None of us had the budget…” Maddy Prior’s history of Steeleye Span
- "As I have from the beginning, I deny the allegations": Axl Rose settles sexual assault lawsuit, maintains innocence
- "They all lived on half a pigeon’s egg each in the morning": The extraordinary life of Bill Wyman: WW2 evacuee, RAF airman, hit solo artist, bandleader, author, restaurateur, archaeologist, cricketer and Rolling Stone
- "A profoundly, even exhilaratingly stupid idea": A six-and-a-half-hour track assembled from 50 versions of Television's Marquee Moon has made the world a better place
- December 3
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- Slipknot announce shows in Australia and New Zealand
- "The progressive rock-ness of this huge epic pushed me in a whole new direction": Slash and Duff McKagan have combined forces on a colossal new song
- "Above all, it was detested by the critics": A beginner’s guide to yacht rock in five essential albums
- "Take a breath, say hello to a stranger, give a dog a pet, it’s the wee things that add real wealth to life." Whether or not you like their music, politics or humour, Kneecap's 10 Rules To Live By could change your life for the better
- Spiritbox announce 2025 North American tour with stacked list of support acts
- Dream Theater share hard-hitting video for new single A Broken Man
- “Our team are continuing to work on new projects with Iron Maiden that we are excited to share with you somewhere down the line”: Iron Maiden mobile game Legacy Of The Beast is shutting down after eight years
- The Ocean share new collaboration with darkwave artist Sierra
- “I said, Don’t f**k with me, Phillip! You can’t pull that s**t on me, you a**hole. This is me, Cher, okay?” That time producer Phil Spector pulled a gun on Cher, and Cher was in absolutely no mood for his nonsense
- "They wouldn't have a clue." Kiss bassist Gene Simmons believes that no-one aged 20 or younger can name a single song by Nirvana or Pearl Jam
- Candacraig announce a new livestream for December
- "The album has a very spooky touch." Epica say they're embracing "dark fantasy" themes on their next album
- “I was on Battersea Bridge when the pig broke free. I drove to the power station and saw this look of schoolboy glee on Roger Waters’ face… ‘You sort this out, Po’”: Aubrey Powell’s Hipgnosis story
- 4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month
- Suns Of The Tundra announce remixed re-release of iconic self-titled debut album
- "We've got a new lot from Leighton Buzzard who're going to do their best for you." Keith Richards playing tuba on Sonny and Cher's I Got You Babe while The Rolling Stones' manager professes his love for Mick Jagger is peak '60s TV
- “Challenging gender and religious norms is something she’s comfortable with”: Firda Marsya Kurnia of Indonesian metal stars Voice Of Baceprot is one of the BBC’s “100 women” of 2024
- Tangerine Dream announce more Phaedra at 50 live shows
- These 25 Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are still going strong - but you'll have to be quick to grab them
- “There are hardly any solos here… it has to feel like we have something new to say”: Why the Von Hertzen Brothers dropped wizard-cloak synths but added sax to In Murmuration
- "Ultimately, you realise that people will forget about you": Myles Kennedy on being in three bands, how Jim Carrey changed his life, and why he worries about Billie Eilish
- All hail the goth Led Zeppelin: Every album by The Cure ranked from worst to best
- If you'd like to know how it's all going with artificial intelligence, you can now listen to a version of Led Zeppelin II that sounds like it was made in the 1950s
- December 2
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- A year on from their final show, Kiss have shared a pyro-spectacular 20-minute video recap
- There are a ton of retro WWE shirts included in Hot Topic's Cyber Monday sale that are pushing all my nostalgia buttons
- UK metalhead? This is your last chance to get some deals on tickets to Napalm Death, Bill Bailey, Biohazard/Life Of Agony and more
- I never go to a gig without these earplugs and now they're 20% off for Cyber Monday, they're even better value
- CDs are back! Here are ten essential rock and metal albums you can still get in Amazon's Cyber Monday CD sale before the end of tonight
- Make your home more epic with up to 41% off these metal wall art prints from Displate this Cyber Monday
- One of our favourite Audio-Techinca turntables has received a huge price drop as Cyber Monday winds down
- This is one of the best turntable deals I've seen this Cyber Monday, but you're going to have to be really quick if you want to grab one
- Here are the most disgustingly ugly Christmas jumpers you can bag in EMP's Cyber Monday deal - if you have the guts to wear them in public
- Some of Bose's most popular headphones have 40% off for Cyber Monday, but you'll need to be quick if you want to nab them
- "I loved it as an egg, I loved it as a caterpillar, I loved it as a pupa, and I still love it." Blur's Damon Albarn on Pure Love, his collab with dance producer DJ Koze
- I took advantage of this Cyber Monday Kindle deal just so I could explore my collection of music books - and bought 5 more while I was at it
- “My health and wellbeing are of paramount importance to myself and my family”: Original Venom guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn leaves Venom Inc. over health and “personal issues”
- "I wasn’t ready for it to be over." Avril Lavigne announces new North American Greatest Hits tour
- Be quick if you want to grab a deal on record players and turntables with Walmart's Cyber Monday offers
- “Steve Lillywhite deserves credit for forcing our hand on that one”: Bono on the huge U2 hit that they saved from the scrapheap
- “Who wouldn’t want to battle against the Martians?” Busted/Fightstar frontman Charlie Simpson to join Enter Shikari's Rou Reynolds in The War Of The Worlds
- Some of my favourite rock and metal records ever are included in Walmart's big Cyber Monday vinyl sale
- “If it scared you, good”: Knocked Loose singer responds to playing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! – and to the haters
- AC/DC announce details of first US tour in nine years
- Bagpipes and a metal breakdown?! It happened this weekend, when Bleed From Within debuted unreleased song In Place Of Your Halo live
- "Sure, that will be nice." Noel Gallagher reveals his mum Peggy's fabulously understated reaction to the news that Oasis have reformed
- Damnation festival announces first bands for 2025, including Perturbator, The Haunted, Pig Destroyer and Crippling Alcoholism
- “I can’t stop reading it, cos I’m a hypochondriac it affects me, makes me want to cut my nose off”: Kurt Cobain on the book he was obsessed with and how it inspired a Nirvana classic
- Quick! These 7 brilliant Lego sets are still available this Cyber Monday - but only while stocks last
- “I was so looking forward to going as a fan and enjoying these amazing bands with you guys”: Sick New World festival will return despite 2025 cancellation, says System Of A Down drummer
- The Black Keys announce summer 2025 UK and European tour
- “An album drenched in musical innovation that proves quality is not defined by quantity”: The Clash used the musical language of prog to make the statement that is Combat Rock
- "I managed to beat a tactful retreat": the fan request that shocked Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood
- “Hope the masses are ready for the crushing you all are about to deliver!” Days after viewers raged over Knocked Loose’s Jimmy Kimmel performance, Body Count are booked to play Jimmy Fallon
- "We've got unfinished business with you!": The Temperance Movement announce reunion with singer Phil Campbell and tour dates
- "He sent me an email that said, I watched. I laughed. What do I do now?" How David Bowie ended up starring in one of the most memorable TV comedy scenes of all time
- Kraftwerk, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Death Cult, The Damned, Public Image Ltd, The The and more to play first Forever Now festival
- “I have lost my eyesight”: Elton John speaks about his deteriorating vision at London gala event
- “A phrase that works on every occasion is an invaluable exit strategy”: Bono on the priceless advice he was given by a hard rock, harder-drinking legend
- “There are many things I like to express musically that aren’t related to Dream Theater. It’s important that I can find my voice”: Jordan Rudess hopes the band he gathered for Permission to Fly becomes a permanent part of his world
- "Chris Cornell shows why he was one of the premier vocalists of his era": Temple Of The Dog's eulogy for a fallen friend still shines
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- If you ever wanted to hear a whiskey-voiced Gene Simmons crooning a jazz standard, now's your chance
- "I do like to complain, and I will complain": Ritchie Blackmore has given his official verdict on Taylor Swift
- King Crimson purists, look away now: Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox have just mangled a Christmas carol
- December 1
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- "The guy's a complete prick!... He's very damaged. He's obviously very, very deeply insecure": Roger Waters lashes out at Thom Yorke over Israel-Palestine stance
- The Cure announce new live album plus expanded edition of #1 album Songs Of A The Lost World
- Deck your halls with a brand new record player this Cyber Monday
- You don't get Something For Nothing, but you can get 25% off the vinyl hologram edition of Rush classic 2112
- Cyber Monday Lego deals 2024: Lego kits for little rockers up to adults are on still on sale - but get in quick
- Cyber Monday CD player deals: Save a bundle on a top CD player - even though the big sales day is over
- Cyber Monday CD deals 2024: There's still time to grab a CD bargain but you're going to have to be quick
- Paramount Plus have launched a 77% off Cyber Monday deal which is surprisingly good if you're a music fan
- New documentary Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary just hit HBO Max – watch it for a total steal thanks to this unmissable early Cyber Monday streaming deal
- "I remember Jimmy yelling at us and calling us hooligans": Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Jeff Beck and the chaotic session that sowed the seeds for Led Zeppelin
- “Whatever response it gets is irrelevant to us”: revisiting The Stone Roses 1994 comeback interview for their long-awaited, hugely-anticipated second record
- Vagabonds, kings, fools and madmen: The Thin Lizzy albums you should definitely listen to
- “All the poise and balance they exude in the studio flies out the window once they get their dander up”: Tears For Fears’ Songs For A Nervous Planet blends stunning live tracks with four powerful new songs
